Apple is a powerhouse no doubt about that, but it is losing steam. There are just so many people out there who are going to buy an iDevice. They've reached saturation and there is very little about the mini that makes me want one.

I've got an iPhone 5 and a Nexus 7, so aren't a fanboy of either, but this really is an underwhelming release to me. First, there's the older hardware inside and sub-Retina display. Second, for the price and the size, you may as well save a bit more and get a full-sized iPad if you really want an Apple tablet.

The first Kindle Fire, once applied with side loaded apps was a great entertainer of children at decent dining establishments. Slap a couple of ripped movies and some Blue's Clues on there and the boy ate all his dinner bites and let the Ex-Mrs. Maimway and I enjoy a nice dinner.

My 7 inch tablet is actually fairly useful. It fits nicely into the back pocket of my wife's handbag and I used it regularly this week. It was my first time to DC, so it was download maps of the Smithsonian, get travel maps to and from the hotel, download audio tours, find places to eat etc, etc. Worked out really well.when it was carried away. A 10 inch tablet is just too big for me to lug around all day unless I am doing business and specifically require something that size. Helps that there were so many free wifi spots around.

The only time I see a reference to them is on Fark. And I stopped paying attention to them years ago when their high school flunkies were telling CIOs who run multinational IT departments how to do their job. They are equally talentless on the gadget front.

limeyfellow:My 7 inch tablet is actually fairly useful. It fits nicely into the back pocket of my wife's handbag and I used it regularly this week. It was my first time to DC, so it was download maps of the Smithsonian, get travel maps to and from the hotel, download audio tours, find places to eat etc, etc. Worked out really well.when it was carried away. A 10 inch tablet is just too big for me to lug around all day unless I am doing business and specifically require something that size. Helps that there were so many free wifi spots around.

gingerjet:Relatively Obscure: gingerjet: Gizmodo is still around? Who knew ....

Pretty much everyone on Fark including you.

The only time I see a reference to them is on Fark. And I stopped paying attention to them years ago when their high school flunkies were telling CIOs who run multinational IT departments how to do their job. They are equally talentless on the gadget front.

In all seriousness, my wife is a non-techy, average computer user. She's been running a piece of shiat LG netbook for a few years. She saw the iPad mini and immediately wanted one. For what she wants, it's perfect. She's going to buy one with her Christmas money.

As a teacher, I can tell you that the iPad mini will kill in the education market. My school division has already begun equipping schools with iPads; my school has a cart, plus three in each classroom. For about $75,000 we could purchase enough iPad minis to get us to a 1:1 ratio. Meanwhile, we're fundraising to buy a playground - which costs $250,000 and I find completely asinine.

bingethinker:Want a sign that Apple's competitors are running scared? Look at headlines like this one.

Sorry, dude, but this is a lame release. No wonder Jobs was so against it. Apple was never meant to be about compromise, which this iteration of the iPad is - a smaller version of the previous generation? At minimum $100 more expensive than a tablet that takes SD cards, and has a serious resolution advantage?

uttertosh:bingethinker: Want a sign that Apple's competitors are running scared? Look at headlines like this one.

Sorry, dude, but this is a lame release. No wonder Jobs was so against it. Apple was never meant to be about compromise, which this iteration of the iPad is - a smaller version of the previous generation? At minimum $100 more expensive than a tablet that takes SD cards, and has a serious resolution advantage?

Pffft.

/apple fanboi

And yet, people will eat it up, thinking it's the same as the newest iPad except in a smaller casing.

Kate Gosselin's Pap Smear:iPad 3 and galaxy note owner here. I was going to sell the iPad and get two minis until they said the mini was $329. Apple has completely missed the point on mini tablets.

Seriously. At $250, maybe it might have been worth a look. Too bad it's $80 more than that. Unless you're one of those hardcore Apple fans blind to the outside world there's no reason not to get a Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, or something that's more capable and has better features for the same price as an iPad Mini.

The thing is freaking awesome. I never contemplated ever getting a tablet as I have a smartphone and a laptop, but damn if that thing isn't awesome for randomly surfing the web while sitting on the couch watching TV.

iPads are cool, but they always seem too big. Perhaps in a bigger office setting. But, the Kindle Fire is a damn awesome piece of tech for $200.

uttertosh:bingethinker: Want a sign that Apple's competitors are running scared? Look at headlines like this one.

Sorry, dude, but this is a lame release. No wonder Jobs was so against it. Apple was never meant to be about compromise, which this iteration of the iPad is - a smaller version of the previous generation? At minimum $100 more expensive than a tablet that takes SD cards, and has a serious resolution advantage?

Pffft.

/apple fanboi

Yeah, Apple totally screwed up the pricing on this.

Remember, the original iPad became such a runaway success in part because it was cheap. It was impossible at that time to find a 10" tablet with as good hardware anywhere near as cheap as $500. It took years for the Android tablet makers to get their 10" tablets down to be price-competitive with the iPad.

Now Apple is forgetting hat lesson and introducing a 7" tablet that's $100+ more expensive than its main competitors (Fire, Nook, Nexus 7).

Ghastly:Mini tablets seem useless to me anyway. Too big to be a phone, too small to be a useful tablet. I have a 10" tablet and would be thrilled if someone would give me a good 12 incher.

You heard me!

I hear ya! (And I chuckled.) I was drooling over the 11.8" 2560x1600 tablet that Samsung was supposed to release in early 2012. Absolutely perfect for comic books. Same size as a comic book page, nearly the same resolution as print. Still waiting. Now there are strong rumors that Google will announce a 10.1" 2560x1600 tablet on Monday. This time ,for sure!

I don't want it just for comics. I also want it for eBooks. I can finally have text as sharp as print and detailed images.

Nook color is the winner if you want to keep little Johnny or Suzy away from your expensive tablet. I format them and install full ICS for people and have made some nice beer and whiskey money doing so.

IMDWalrus:Unless you're one of those hardcore Apple fans blind to the outside world there's no reason not to get a Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, or something that's more capable and has better features for the same price as an iPad Mini.

Apple is a good choice for non tech-savvy people.

I have friends and acquaintances who can't understand how to save a Word file on their computer and email it to somebody. They might print it out and fax it (I am not kidding).

I would rather drink hemlock than try to teach them to use an Android device.

But they CAN figure how to work their iPods and iPhones and iPads. Nobody approaches Apple for great interface design.

hawcian:And yet, people will eat it up, thinking it's the same as the newest iPad except in a smaller casing.

Maybe... Brand loyalty is one of the hardest things to break, but, for me, this is on par with what sony did to their mid-low priced TV's in the early to mid 90's (imo) Change the plastic housing, keep the innards, charge nearly double for this year's model.

I lost my appetite just thinking about this. I may puke in a while. WTF, Apple? W.T.F.

In all seriousness, my wife is a non-techy, average computer user. She's been running a piece of shiat LG netbook for a few years. She saw the iPad mini and immediately wanted one. For what she wants, it's perfect. She's going to buy one with her Christmas money.

As a teacher, I can tell you that the iPad mini will kill in the education market. My school division has already begun equipping schools with iPads; my school has a cart, plus three in each classroom. For about $75,000 we could purchase enough iPad minis to get us to a 1:1 ratio. Meanwhile, we're fundraising to buy a playground - which costs $250,000 and I find completely asinine.

Ya, to hell with all that exercise and outdoor activity and healthy stuff. Who needs sunlight anyway, rickets isn't a real disease, let's focus on more technology in the classroom.

If your school is of the age to need a playground, getting new toys isn't the best investment given the life span of each and the general mindset of people that age.

Because I had a fairly extensive nook library before I had a tablet, I chose to spend $35 and purchase a bootable SD card for my nook. So now I have the nook tablet that is still a nook tablet and I can pop the sd card in and have a fully functioning Android tablet. Best of both worlds. I'm sure the tech savvy could probably make their own bootable SD card as well, and skip the $35 part.

Kate Gosselin's Pap Smear:iPad 3 and galaxy note owner here. I was going to sell the iPad and get two minis until they said the mini was $329. Apple has completely missed the point on mini tablets.

It's a shrunken iPad 2 and they didn't take anything out. It's similar to their refusal to make a netbook and make those people choose between the iPad and the MacBook Air. If you look at the price points of the current iPod touch line ($299 for 32GB) then $329 for the iPad mini was inevitable. Maybe it could have been $299 but it's probably going to sell out at $329.

1.- Steve Jobs didn't want it. Which means they ran out of things Steve would DO and started doing the things Steve specifically rejected. Uh-oh Apple.

2.- They're playing catch-up here. That's insane. Apple either breaks into markets without much competition (all-in-one computers, iPods, Smartphones) or creates new markets altogether (personal computer, iPad, even the iPhone to some extent.) That's how they get insane margins and brand positioning.

This launch is SO un-Apple it's unbelievable.

Next year: iPad Micro (or how you know it currently: iPod Touch but with an iPhone5 screen).

I'm shocked Gizmodo would be against an Apple product, especially since they were the ones who paid money to someone who found a pre-release iPhone in a bar. Then Apple got the lawyers after Gizmodo to get the phone back, after which Apple barred Gizmo from any Apple events. I'm shocked, I tell ya!

Khellendros:Bought a Nexus 7 about two months ago. There has been zero reason to regret this decision. Love it.

The 4.1.2 update to give it landscape view on the homescreen was really needed. It is a good tablet, though I wish Google would just put a SD slot on their Nexus products.

I love my iPad, but I have had several different ~7" tablets, and they're all just plain WRONG sized. 10" makes sense for a laptop replacement and productivity device. My Android phone is great for a pocket computer. But the 7" tablets are all in that "too big for the pocket, too small to be comfortable reading" area. They suck for web browsing, and aren't much good to me as a writer. The 10" iPad is big enough that I can type a page on it and it's pretty close to typing on a piece of regular paper-- That is, I can see the page well and don't have to get in close or squint.

I think the iPad mini would have been great for people as a media consumption device in the same category as the Kindle Fire, but then Apple had to go and overprice the thing. Stupid.

Kindle Fire is great for people who are getting a tablet for the first time, or for those getting one for their young kids. The Nexus is just too Androidy for beginners, and the iPad is too expensive for casual users.

That said, I've had several tablets-- Samsung Galaxy Tab, several cheap-o Android tablets, the Nook, the Kindle Fire, and a few others-- and none of them have pleased me the way my iPad has. I sold my iPad, tried the Android tablets, and then ended up going back to iPad because it was just plain BETTER at productivity apps.

jaytkay:IMDWalrus: Unless you're one of those hardcore Apple fans blind to the outside world there's no reason not to get a Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, or something that's more capable and has better features for the same price as an iPad Mini.

Apple is a good choice for non tech-savvy people.

I have friends and acquaintances who can't understand how to save a Word file on their computer and email it to somebody. They might print it out and fax it (I am not kidding).

I would rather drink hemlock than try to teach them to use an Android device.

But they CAN figure how to work their iPods and iPhones and iPads. Nobody approaches Apple for great moron-proof interface design.

FTFY.

If my mom, one of the most astonishingly technologically inept people on the planet, can use (and love) an Android device, then anyone can use an Android device.

kroonermanblack:Ya, to hell with all that exercise and outdoor activity and healthy stuff. Who needs sunlight anyway, rickets isn't a real disease, let's focus on more technology in the classroom.

The kids are doing just fine without a playground. They're outside on the field several times a day (in addition to indoor government-mandated daily physical activity), running around and using - gasp - their imaginations. We provide them with balls, frisbees, jump ropes, etc. They get their outdoor activity in spades.

Having a playground will result in more stupid arguments and kids running around less. The playground is more for the parents, just so they can say the school has one, like the other school in town. That's all it is. Is this worth more than most people pay for their condos around here? Nope.

If your school is of the age to need a playground, getting new toys isn't the best investment given the life span of each and the general mindset of people that age.

The iPads are great for student engagement. There's so many great apps for research content creation, giving students opportunities to show me what they know. They can do everything on one device, and not just sitting in a chair in a lab. If you're trying to design a universal learning environment, tablets such as our iPads are the way to go. The students are incredibly careful with the iPads, and we keep ours in big cases.

If you're in an inquiry-based school like mine, iPads are great. 1:1 is the way of the future, and the iPad mini will bring many schools there more quickly.

Desktop, laptop, smartphone. And all that jargon about watching movies on these minis? Really? You're telling me people really enjoy watching a movie on 7 inches instead of plopping in a blu ray to your flatscreen or computer at home?